This invention relates generally to a silencer manually operable from a remote post and adapted to suppress the audio output of a radio or television set during commercial breaks, and more particularly to a silencer which entails no wiring changes in the set and whose installation only requires the insertion of a probe in the existing earphone jack.
The typical radio or television program in the United States, regardless of whether it has an entertainment, sports or informational format, is plagued by commercial breaks. In present day broadcasting, commercial breaks or advertising messages usually have a one or two minute duration, though in some instances they last only twenty seconds.
Except for public service stations, radio and television broadcasting in the United States is a profit-making enterprise. The tendency therefore on the part of station operators is to interpose as many commercial breaks as a viewer or listener can be expected to tolerate before being driven by excessive advertising to switch to another channel. Where programming standards are high, the commercial breaks are scheduled for points of minimal interference. Thus it is not considered good practice to interrupt the performance of a symphony, nor to wedge in a commercial break at the height of a dramatic episode in a televised movie.
But the commercial interest of sponsors are not usually compatible with good broadcasting practice. Thus in order to draw attention to an advertising message, the commercial may be deliberately pitched at a higher sound level than that of the program interrupted thereby. A common advertising technique in television commercial breaks in which a sound track is used to accompany a visual presentation of a product is to create sound effects which are deliberately irritating or stimulating in order to heighten interest. For example, the attention-getting reflex effect of a telephone ring is often incorporated in radio and T-V commercials.
A listener or viewer who is disquieted by commercial breaks is, of course, not compelled to listen and is free to turn down the sound until the break is over. But this is more easily said than done, for the set is not usually within ready reach. Thus a T-V viewer normally is at least 10 feet from the screen and cannot be expected, each time there is a commercial, to rise from his seat to control the sound. Indeed with some progams, a viewer disturbed by commercials would spend his time rushing repeatedly to and from his viewing post if he wished not to hear these breaks.
Those set owners who possess remote-control or so-called space-command units have an obvious advantage, for they are able from their viewing or listening post to cut off sound during commercial breaks. But very few sets on the market include a remote control capability, for sets of this type are more costly than conventional receivers.
It is a relatively simple matter to provide a manually-operated silencer switch external to the set that is connected by an extension wire to the audio signal line leading to the loudspeaker. But to make this installation, one has to invade the set, locate and cut the audio signal line and then wire-in the extension line.
There are practical drawbacks to an installation of this type. In the case of a T-V set which includes high-voltage supply, even a simple wiring modification which entails opening up the set can be hazardous if not carefully done by a serviceman. Moreover, the extension line from the set then carries the audio signal to the remote switch. While the audio current intensity is not high, this too represents a possible hazard, for an internal fault in the set may cause a high voltage to be applied to audio signal line. Also an unauthorized invasion of a television set will ordinarily terminate its manufacturer's warranty.
Another and more sensible approach to the problem is that disclosed by the Lerner U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,206 whose purpose is not to cut off but to control the volume of T-V sound from a remote station. To this end, Lerner inserts a standard plug in the existing earphone jack of the T-V set, the jack being connected by an extension line to a remote volume control resistor which is then in series with the loudspeaker of the set and acts as a volume control therefor.
There are two practical drawbacks to the Lerner arrangement. First, if the objective is not to control the volume of broadcast sound but to cut it off entirely so as to suppress commercial breaks, then each time there is a break, the operator of the Lerner device must turn the remote control all the way in one direction to the point of maximum resistance. After the commercial break is over the operator must then turn the remote control in the reverse direction until the sound is again at the desired level.
Not only is the Lerner arrangement incapable of providing a simple sound-on or sound-off action, but it requires a readjustment of the sound level each time sound is restored. In television viewing, the set operator, after selecting a channel for viewing, will normally adjust the volume of the set to a sound level which suits his taste. Once this sound level is set, the operator has no further need to change it until such time as he changes the channel setting.
But with Lerner, the sound level has to be reset after each commercial break, for the setting is upset whenever the operator turns down the volume. Moreover, the extension line in the Lerner installation carries the audio signal current into the viewing area, which, as previously explained, is undesirable.